About

Model vs. Cashier refers to a series of image macro memes comparing professional models and celebrities to random cashiers, claiming that the cashier is better looking than the model. The comparison meme format first appeared on Reddit in July 2021 and spread over the following years with new examples being posted on sites like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.

Origin

On July 12th, 2021, Redditor u/Caesaropapismno posted an image macro to /r/mountandblade^[1] showing a character from the game Mount & Blade captioned "90% of Instagram models" over a photo of another, higher quality character captioned, "Random girl working at the DMV," suggesting the DMV worker is more attractive, garnering over 4,000 upvotes in two years (shown below, left).

On July 15th, Redditor u/Rede331 posted a similar meme to /r/memes^[2] using the Doomer Girl format about models vs. cashiers, garnering over 140,000 upvotes in the same span of time (shown below, right).

Spread

On July 15th, 2021, YouTuber^[3] memesso posted a video compilation of memes, beginning with a recreation of the Reddit "model vs. cashier" meme, garnering over 90,000 views in two years. On April 9th, 2022, Redditor u/ZobTitanesque posted a new version of the meme to /r/antimeme,^[4] writing, "Those girls are beautiful (the supermodel obviously)," garnering over 1,200 upvotes in a year (shown below).

On March 28th, 2023, TikToker^[5] @jennarenee.s posted a video of herself appearing to work at McDonald's, garnering over 118 million views in three months. On May 1st, Redditor u/Few_Gas_8319 posted a version of the "model vs. cashier" meme to /r/meme^[6] using a photo of her as the cashier example, garnering over 2,600 upvotes in a month.

On April 29th, Twitter^[7] user @Zvbear posted a version of the meme using Zendaya as the model example that gained over 61,700 likes in two months (shown below, left). On May 18th, Instagram^[8] user womanofeurope posted a meme using the same girl as the cashier example and Doja Cat wearing an outfit that makes her look like a cat as the model example, garnering over 5,600 likes in a month (shown below, right).

On June 6th, 2023, the Facebook^[9] page Marvelous Memes shared a similar version of the Zendaya meme, garnering over 380 shares and 5,500 reactions in three weeks (shown below). On June 16th, Twitter^[10] user @ElijahSchaffer posted a similar version of the meme comparing "Germany’s Top Model Winner 2023" to a "Random Ethnic German Model" that garnered over 42,600 likes in two weeks. On June 27th, Twitter^[11] user @OrwellNGoode reposted the Zendaya version of the meme, garnering over 154,000 likes in a day.

On the same day, June 27th, TikToker^[12] @syrianpsycho posted a video making a similar joke about the hottest girl at his school vs. a random cashier, garnering over 420,000 views in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References